Christmas wasn't paid for with last week's punts so here's hoping for better this week, starting on Tuesday night with four Premier League fixtures.
Manchester United (1/7) host Wolves who pulled off a shock at Spurs on Saturday and are 14/1 with Sportingbet for a repeat at Old Trafford – surely lightning won't strike twice?
Something that has been striking regularly, however, is Birmingham's run of good form as they are now unbeaten in their last seven matches, and can continue the sequence at home against Blackburn in the live Sky match.
The Blues have only conceded four times at St Andrews this season, with three of their home victories finishing 1-0, and with Blackburn drawing their last four matches, split stakes on correct scores of 1-0 (11/2) to the home side and 1-1 (5/1) look favourable.
There are four more Premier League matches on Wednesday, including Liverpool (3/10) at home to Wigan (8/1), and Burnley (5/1) at home in their fortress against Arsenal (1/2).
Burnley have played eight matches at Turf Moor this term, winning five and losing just once, although the Gunners will be bouncing following their Sunday success at Anfield, making this a real toughie to call. Fortune favours the brave, though, so I'll go for the Burnley home win at a mouth watering 5/1, with a saver on the draw at 11/4 – come on the Clarets!
Wednesday's live match comes from White Hart Lane where Tottenham (5/4) clash with Manchester City (19/10) – both of whom will be lacking confidence. Spurs will want to erase the weekend's loss to Wolves, while Mark Hughes' men are shaky on their travels – they haven't returned to Manchester with three points since August.
Those that scan the history books will see that this corresponding fixture has finished 2-1 to Spurs in the last five seasons, but I fancy the draw this time around and Sportingbet are offering big scorecast odds for the first goalscorer and correct score in a double.
Stakes split four ways on Jermain Defoe to score first in tandem with 1-1 (40/1) and 2-2 (66/1), along with Emmanuel Adebayor 1-1 (40/1) and 2-2 (80/1) won't just pay for Christmas but also the Boxing Day sales.
The Premier League continues as normal at the weekend where Saturday's televised matches include a revitalised Portsmouth against the inconsistent Liverpool, while Arsenal take on Hull at the Emirates – check Sportingbet's website for all the latest odds.
Sunday sees Wolves (11/10) host Burnley (2/1) in a fascinating tie, and much will depend on the outcome of their midweek engagements, while the Beeb sends its cameras to St James Park for the lunchtime Championship showdown between Newcastle (7/10) and Middlesbrough (7/2).
Newcastle have turned St James Park into a fortress with an unbeaten record of eight wins and two draws from 10 games, and though Boro will struggle to win, they have performed better away from home. They have also drawn four of their last five games here which could again be on the cards at 12/5.
The Europa League resumes on Thursday but punters should note that both Everton and Celtic's respective matches against BATE and Rapid Vienna are meaningless ties that won't alter the groups, so the shrewd decision could be to bet in:play following the early exchanges.
Fulham's away clash at Basel (11/10), however, carries more importance as the pair fight it out for qualification. With the home side needing only a draw, Fulham will be forced to attack which could reap benefits at odds of 21/10.
England (10/3) will be looking to build on their one-day series victory over South Africa (5/4) in the four-match Test series that gets underway at Centurion on Wednesday morning.
South-African born, Jonathan Trott, performed well in the one-dayers and is taken to be leading run scorer for England in the series at 4/1 as Kevin Pietersen is still finding his form following injury.
I'm a big fan of the darts, whose PDC World Championship starts in north London on Friday. Placing a bet on the outright winner doesn't appeal, though, as defending champion, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, again looks invincible at cramped odds of 1/3. However, odds about Terry Jenkins to win his quarter of the draw make better sense at 6/1. His nickname is the 'The Bull' by the way.
Week's best sportingbet: Fulham to beat Basel on Thursday at 21/10.
